Railroad ABCD

During 2006, railroads carried what percentage of all intercity ton miles moved?
a. 47.1 percent
b. 39.4 percent
c. 43.0 percent
d. 50.2 percent

Intramodel competition is:
a. the joint use of trucks and railroads to serve common customers
b. trucking companies underbidding other modes to secure business
c. various modes seeking to gain market share from other modes
d. a government sponsored activity

Which is a major reason for the decline in the number of rail companies?
a. mergers and unification occurring in the railroad industry
b. government restrictions on rail ownership
c. loss of business to other modes
d. desire of management to invest in other areas of business

One of the benefits of a railroad mergers is:
a. there are fewer grade crossings
b. lees frequent interchanges between companies means faster service
c. cities and towns get back land once used for railroads
d. The STB does not have as many companies to regulate.

What do the majority of rail movements involve?
a. manufactured goods
b. bulk liquids and coal
c. low value, heavy commodities
d. consumer goods

The demand for freight:
a. originates when the carrier asks for the business
b. starts when the shipper calls the railroad to provide equipment to move a shipment
c. is a derived demand based demand for products
d. is based upon government quotas

The railroads dominate the market for:
a. hauling 30,000 pounds or more over 300 miles.
b. hauling 60,000 pounds or less than 100 miles.
c. oversize and over-dimension shipments.
d. coal and chemicals.

What is one of the strengths of the railroad industry?
a. that it is not as affected by the weather as are other modes
b. that the railroads have large carrying capacity
c. that it can move products in both directions
d. that geographical barriers are not as formidable as they are for other modes

What is the difference between TOFC and COFC service?
a. TOFC is slower and cheaper
b. not all railroads can handle COFC
c. that COFC is more costly
d. one method move the trailer on its wheels and the other moves only the "box" or the container.

Railroad carloadings have declined since 1900. What is the primary reason for the decline?
a. competition by foreign transportation
b. fuel efficient smaller cars
c. reduction in line trackage
d. larger cars and increasing car productivity

The basic unit of measurement for railroad freight handling is known as the:
a. unit load.
b. carload
c. freight load.
d. capacity load.

Which type of railroad car has the greatest numbers in service?
a. tank car
b. covered hopper
c. flat car
d. gondola

Who are the owners the greatest percentage of rolling stock in use?
a. class I railroads
b. federal government for military moves
c. private car leasing firm and shippers
d. investment and financial firms

What is the major cost element of the railroad?
a. operation and maintenance of locomotives
b. operation and maintenance of rights
c. operation and maintenance of railcars
d. operation and maintenance of yards and terminals

Which best characterizes the short-run cost structure of the railroads?
a. low variable costs, high direct separable costs
b. low fixed costs, low variable costs
c. low joint costs, high separable costs
d. large proportion of indirect fixed costs

Railroad per unit costs decline as traffic increases. What is the reason for this cost behavior?
a. A high proportion of variable costs in the cost structure
b. A low proportion of fixed costs in the cost structure
c. A large proportion of fixed costs in the cost structure
d. Limited capital investment by the railroads

What was the purpose of the legislation which created Amtrak?
a. It relived railroads from the responsibility of providing passenger service
b. It allowed the government to provide service without concern for profit
c. It allowed the states to take over commuter service
d. It allowed the railroads to get rid of track that was only used by passenger trains

Intermodal expanded by _____ from 1980 to 2007.
a. 100 percent
b. 365 percent
c. 484 percent
d. 300 percent

Railroads are:
a. more energy efficient than most other modes
b. more likely to haul energy producing materials than other modes
c. not as energy efficient as most other modes
d. buying more energy efficient locomotives

Which bill, under consideration in the Senate, would make the first changes to rail’s competitive structure since 1980?
a. S. 186
b. S. 146
c. S. 168
d. Staggers Rail Act

When did scheduled common carrier frieght and passenger service begin in the U.S.?
a. 1918
b. 1868
c. 1789
d. 1930

What is the standard track guage in the U.S?
a. 5 Feet
b. 6 Foot 2 Inches
c. 4 Foot 8.5 Inches
d. 4 Foot 10 Inches

What led to the erosion of rail dominance in U.S. transportation?
a. Passenger air service in the 1920s
b. Government funded construction of roads
c. Steel price increase
d. Coal price increase

How many Class 1 rail companies are there?
a. 5
b. 7
c. 66
d. 18

What percentage of rail revenue is earned by local carriers?
a. 2.1 Percent
b. 1.8 Percent
c. 3.7 Percent
d. 28 Percent

How many rail mergers have occurred in the last 30 years?
a. 15
b. 50
c. 28
d. 18

What commodity accounted for 7,800,000 railcar loads in 2007?
a. Nonmetallic minerals
b. Food
c. Farm products
d. Coal

Who is the largest single customer of some rail roads?
a. FedEx
b. DHL
c. Walmart
d. UPS

The major cost element borne by the railroad industry is the:
a. Rolling Stock
b. Fuel costs
c. Rights of way
d. Insurance